• In 1998, the Singapore Government launched a blueprint for the development of Chinatown, aimed at promoting tourism in the area. The blueprint included the construction of a museum that would narrate the lives of early Chinese immigrants.
• The Chinatown Heritage Centre was officially opened in 2002. It occupies three shophouses at Pagoda Street (a pedestrian street) which were tailor shops in the 1950s.
• Its aim is to present the look of Chinatown in the early days, through artefacts that depict the living environment of the Chinese immigrants who came to Singapore for work.
• The exhibition galleries feature multi-sensory displays and interactive narratives, enabling visitors to experience life as it was in the past.
• In October 2014, the Chinatown Heritage Centre was closed for upgrading to enhance the exhibition galleries and improve the visitor experience. It reopened in January 2016.
• Due to COVID-19 and prolonged international travel restrictions, management of the Chinatown Heritage Centre was officially taken over by the Singapore Tourism Board on 26 April 2021.

After more than a year of renovation works, the Chinatown Heritage Centre reopened with new exhibition galleries featuring old confectioneries, jewellery shops, and clan associations. (Lianhe Zaobao, 7/1/2016)